Tonight we had loaded baked potato soup for dinner. I made this because Dan loves it, but Kate slurped down two bowls of it and said "Yum! Potato soup!" in between bites. She adds about three extra syllables to the word "potato" when she says it, so that it sounds like "Po-tay-toe-tah-to." Here's a (very) short video of that, along with the Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipe, which involves bacon. A lot of my soup recipes involve bacon, and this makes my husband happy.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup of butter
2/3 cup of all-purpose flour
7 cups milk (Note: Whole milk makes for a thicker soup, which is good, but not necessary. I would not recommend anything less than 2 percent, since I'm not sure the soup would thicken up right with 1 percent or skim.)
4 green onions, sliced (I use more.)
8 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 8-ounce container sour cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Bake potatoes at 400 degrees for one hour or until done; cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, mash to desired texture (I don't like a lot of big chunks, so I mash them down pretty well, but that's a matter of taste). Reserve pulp and discard shells.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook one minute, whisking continuously. Gradually whisk in milk, cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. (Don't be afraid to raise your heat a little to get things bubbling at this point, because that helps thicken things up, just keep a close eye and stir well to make sure the milk doesn't burn.)

Stir in potato pulp and green onions; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. (Really you can cook it ten minutes or, if it seem like it's the thickness you want before that, you can cut the heat earlier.) Add remaining ingredients, stir until cheese melts. Heat through and serve immediately, topped with bacon and cheese. Yield: 14 cups.